One of Our Own
by MacsLady
Summary: When one of his team is killed, Mac has to get the rest of his people through the aftermath, and find the person responsible. This is an AU/what-if fic, that takes place during s9, shortly after the episode 'Blood Actually'. As it's an AU fic, the character who dies in this one will appear in future fics of mine not set in this particular AU.


**Chapter 1.**

'Mac, can I pleeeeeeease have another Peanut Butter Cup?' Mac looked down at Lucy Messer. The four-year-old was looking up at him, her eyes wide. Danny and Lindsay had gone on a date night, and Mac and Christine were at Mac's place, babysitting Lucy. It was 8pm. Danny had told Mac they'd be back around 10pm, and they'd decided it would be best for Lucy to sleep over at Mac's and either Danny or Lindsay come and fetch her the next morning.

'Haven't you already had one?' he asked.

'Yes, but that means there's one left in the packet. And I ate all my dinner, even the vegetables, and I helped you with the dishes.'

'You did,' Mac acknowledged, 'But it's getting kind of late. I'm not sure you should have another Peanut Butter Cup now.'

Lucy's face fell.

'But,' Mac said, 'I think half of one should be okay. You want to share with me?'

Lucy was smart enough to know that half a piece of candy was better than no candy, and she smiled.

'Okay. But what about Christine?'

'She hates them,' Mac said, opening the fridge to retrieve the last Peanut Butter Cup, which was one of the large ones.

As he split it in two, and handed Lucy the slightly larger half, she frowned.

'She _hates_ them?' she asked, her tone shocked.

'Yep,' Mac said.

'That's weird!'

Mac nodded.

Once they'd finished eating, he took Lucy's hand and led her back into his living area. They sat on the couch, with Mac next to Christine and Lucy on his lap.

'Ready to watch the end of the movie, Lucy, then get ready for bed?' Christine asked.

'Yes,' said Lucy, leaning back into Mac, already looking tired, though he knew she'd never admit to it.

Half an hour later, _Despicable Me_ had finished. After Lucy brushed her teeth, Christine helped her into her pyjamas, and Mac tucked her into the bed in their spare room, and red her a story, which was about a very grumpy cat named Mr Pusskins.

'Mac, d'you think Mommy and Daddy will let me get a pet?' Lucy asked when he'd finished.

'I'm not sure, Lucy, you'll have to ask them.'

'What if *you* got a pet and then I could come visit it when I come see you?'

'Well, I'll have to run that by Christine,' Mac said, 'Now, do you want one more story?'

'Yeah!'

Lucy handed him a book - a Curious George one.. He read it to her, and by the end of the relatively short story, she was already asleep.

Mac carefully moved off the bed and tucked the covers up around her, tucking the princess doll Christine and he had gotten her the previous Christmas next to her, and switched off the bedside light.

He turned to see Christine in the doorway, smiling at him.

He crossed to the door and stepped outside, half closing the door behind him.

'What?' he asked, a little confused by Christine's smile.

'You,' she said, 'You're so sweet with her.' Mac smiled.

As they headed back to the couch, he said,

'Well, she *is* my goddaughter, as well as the daughter of two people I love.'

Christine smiled wider.

'Yeah, but you're sweet with all kids. Jo's told me how good you are with Ellie, and when you came to that party with my family, all the kids there loved you. My little nieces and nephews are always asking when 'Detective Mac' is coming back. Well, my whole family is, but with the kids it's cute, whereas with the adults it's just them prying into my love life again.'

Mac felt a warm flush of surprised pleasure at the news that the various kids he'd met at Christine's party liked him. He'd spent quite a bit of time with them, they'd been curious about him and his job, but he hadn't thought he was doing anything particularly special.

'Really?' he asked.

'Yes. The older ones were really upset when they found out you'd been shot. The whole family was.'

'I'm sorry for that,' Mac said, feeling bad he'd caused them concern.

'You have nothing to be sorry for. That bitch who shot you is the one who should be sorry. She's lucky she's in prison, I'd have liked to smack her around a little,' Christine said. Seeing Mac's surprised look, she said, 'Hey,I get tough when people mess with the man I love.'

Mac smiled.

'Oh, I know how tough you can be.'

He leaned in to kiss Christine, relishing in the taste of her, and her warmth and closeness. He'd honestly thought he'd never feel this way about anyone ever again, and it still caught him by surprise at times.

They drew back from the kiss and Christine smiled up at him.

'Damn, Mac, you're good at that,' she said.

Mac chuckled, then leaned in to kiss her again.

A couple of hours later, they were in the middle of watching some sitcom Christine followed and Mac simply enjoyed watching with her, when Mac's cell phone rang. He frowned, and picked up, hoping it wasn't a call out to a scene.

'Taylor,' he said.

'Is this Detective Mac Taylor?' a woman's voice asked.

'Yes,'

'I'm calling from Mercy hospital. I believe you're the secondary emergency contact for Danny Messer?'

Mac's heart froze in his chest. He was Danny's secondary contact, the person who would be notified if Danny was hurt and they couldn't contact Lindsay, his primary contact, for some reason. Given that Danny and Lindsay had been together tonight meant they had both been hurt. Mac dreaded to think what possibilities that opened up.

'Yes, that's correct,' he said.

'Mr Taylor, Danny and Lindsay Messer were involved in an accident tonight. From what we gather, Mrs Messer was hit by a car while crossing the street. Mr Messer wasn't hurt, but he's...well, he's in no state to be released from the hospital, and as he's not physically hurt, we can't keep him here. He's actually refusing to leave his wife's side. I don't want to have security remove him, given the circumstances. He's insisting that the only person he'll speak to is you. He gave me this number when I asked if there was anyone we could call.'

'What...what's Lindsay's condition?' Mac asked. He was dimly aware of Christine's hand on his arm, but he couldn't focus on anything.

The woman at the other end was silent for a few moments, then she said,

'I...I'm very sorry to inform you that Lindsay Messer died on the way to the hospital.'

Mac almost dropped the phone. He slumped against the wall, closing his eyes.

'Detective?'

'You're...you're sure?' Mac croaked, praying that somehow it would all turn out to be some kind of horrible mistake. Lindsay couldn't be dead.

'Yes. I'm very sorry for your loss,'

'I...' Mac trailed off, lost for words. He couldn't bring himself to speak, couldn't force his mind to function. He was suddenly aware of Christine next to him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed tight, leaning against him at the same time. Mac clung to her hand, and the contact, and her closeness, somehow bolstered him. He swallowed hard, pulled himself together.

'I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can,' he said.

He hung up, and dropped his cell phone to the floor. Tears stung his eyes.

'Mac?' Christine asked.

'Lindsay...she...got hit by a car. She's...she's dead, Christine, Lindsay's dead.'

Christine's eyes instantly filled with shock, and she shook her head.

'No...oh, Mac, oh no...'

She wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her head just below his chin. Mac wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her tight to him, burying his face in her hair. He allowed himself to just let go for a few moments, allowed his body to sag against hers, allowed the tears to fall. Soon, he would need to be strong. For Danny, for Lucy. For Don and Jo and the others. But right now, with Christine, he didn't have to be strong. He could just *be*, just for these few moments, he could let her take some of the grief and the weight.

'Danny?' Christine asked.

'The doctor said he's uninjured, but he won't leave Lindsay, won't let anyone there reason with him. He asked for me.'

Christine nodded against his chest.

'I can understand why. You have to go, Mac. I'll stay here and watch Lucy. Oh, god, poor Lucy.'

Mac just nodded, helplessly.

'I need to call the others...'

'I'll do that. You go to Danny.'

Christine pulled back and raised one hand to cup his cheek. Mac leaned into her warm palm.

'He needs you, Mac. They all will. You stay as long as you need, and you do whatever it is you have to to get your guys through this. And I'll be right here. I love you, Mac.'

'I love you, too,' he said.

Mac pulled up outside the hospital with a screech of tires on got out and ran inside.

'Mac!' he heard someone call before he even made it halfway to the reception desk. He spun around and saw Jo. She looked awful. Her face was pale, and he could see she'd been crying. He took three huge strides across the small space between them and wordlessly pulled her to him in a hug. If she was at all surprised by this sudden and somewhat unusual public show of emotion, Jo didn't show it. It was hardly the time. She simply clung to him, burying her face in his shoulder and crying. He held her tight, letting his own tears fall, suddenly not caring who saw.

'Mac, Christine called me. I was just around the corner from here, with Tyler, we were having pizza. Christine said that Lindsay...Lindsay's...dead. How can that be? Just...how?'

Mac shook his head and stroked Jo's back.

'I...I don't know,' he choked out. 'I...don't...' he trailed off. They stayed like that for a while, neither able to speak. Then Mac swallowed hard against the lump of grief and anger in his throat. He pulled back from Jo and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, leading to her to a couple of chairs. He sat her down, then sat next to her, taking her hands in his.

'Jo, I know you're hurting. So am I. I can't even believe this is real. I keep hoping it's some kind of godawful nightmare and I'm going to wake up soon,' But he knew it wasn't, and he knew what he, they, needed to do now. 'Jo, we need to be strong. For Danny, and Lucy. For the others too. We need to take care of Danny and Lucy. I can't do that by myself. I need your help, Jo..'

Despite the nearly overwhelming grief that seemed to be drowning her from the inside out, despite her need to scream and curse at the sheer unfairness of what had happened, Jo felt some reassurance in Mac's words. She could see the pain and grief and anger in his eyes, read it in the tension of his body. But she could also see one of the many things she admired about him - his strength, and the way he had of putting others first. Right now, they couldn't make this about their own grief and anger. They had to be strong, had to take care of Danny and Lucy.

Jo was incredibly grateful right then that out of all the people who could have been at her side in this horrible, horrible situation, it was Mac Taylor.


End file.
